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Pau F3: Gunther takes his first win of 2017

European Formula 3's 2016 runner-up Maximilian Gunther has taken his first win of the 2017 campaign in the second race at Pau.

Maximilian Günther, Prema Powerteam Dallara F317 - Mercedes-Benz

Maximilian Günther, Prema Powerteam Dallara F317 - Mercedes-Benz

FIA F3 / Suer

Maximilian Günther, Prema Powerteam Dallara F317 - Mercedes-Benz
Lando Norris, Carlin Dallara F317 - Volkswagen
Nikita Mazepin, Hitech Grand Prix, Dallara F317 - Mercedes-Benz, Ralf Aron, Hitech Grand Prix, Dallara F317 - Mercedes-Benz
Start action
Joel Eriksson, Motopark Dallara F317 - Volkswagen
Joey Mawson, Van Amersfoort Racing, Dallara F317 - Mercedes-Benz
Lando Norris, Carlin Dallara F317 - Volkswagen
Lando Norris, Carlin Dallara F317 - Volkswagen

Prema driver Gunther picked off Carlin poleman Lando Norris at the start, taking the inside line into the first right-hander, which proved to be the decisive move of the race.

McLaren junior Norris didn’t give up without a fight and desperately tried to get by during the opening laps, going side-by-side up the hill and then challenging the German on the outside of the Pont Oscar hairpin.

However Gunther stayed in control of the race and started slowly building a gap to Norris, which was two seconds at the halfway point. Prema’s Callum Ilott and Motopark’s Joel Eriksson were duelling for third another two seconds behind.

By lap 20, the battle for the podium positions had lost its intensity when Gunther increased the gap to Norris to three seconds, while Ilott managed to drive away from championship leader Eriksson.

Eriksson then crashed out on lap 23 at the Foch chicane, a costly mistake in the fight for the European F3 title.

Gunther, who finished third in race one, went on to score a comfortable victory ahead of Norris and Ilott.

Eriksson’s crash promoted Harrison Newey to fourth. Newey had jumped from seventh to fifth at the start and then had to fight off Ralf Aron and Jake Hughes for the duration of the race, hanging on to score his best finish in European F3 so far.

Behind his Hitech teammates Aron and Hughes, Nikita Mazepin was seventh for Hitech after losing out at the start, while Carlin trio Ferdinand Habsburg, Jehan Daruvala and Jake Dennis round out the top 10.

In the only on-track collision of the race, Marino Sato tapped Keyvan Andres into a spin at the Lycee hairpin.

Prema's Guan Yu Zhou retired on lap 19 with a mechanical problem, while Joey Mawson was also forced to retire his VAR Dallara in the dying stages on the 33-minute race.

Norris will start from pole in the third and last race of the weekend, the 76th Pau Grand Prix. He will again find Gunther alongside him with Ilott and Eriksson starting on the second row.

Race results:

 Pos.Driver TeamTime/Gap
 Maximilian Gunther Prema Powerteam 34'14.016
 Lando Norris Carlin 1.953
 Callum Ilott Prema Powerteam 5.287
 Harrison Newey Van Amersfoort Racing 11.883
 Ralf Aron Hitech GP 12.596
 Jake Hughes Hitech GP 13.411
 Nikita Mazepin Hitech GP 15.873
 Ferdinand Habsburg Carlin 17.371
 Jehan Daruvala Carlin 18.009
10   Jake Dennis Carlin 20.084
11   Mick Schumacher Prema Powerteam 24.765
12   Tadasuke Makino Hitech GP 26.788
13   Pedro Piquet Van Amersfoort Racing 27.824
14   David Beckmann Van Amersfoort Racing 28.920
15   Keyvan Andres Motopark 1'06.150
16   Joey Mawson Van Amersfoort Racing 3 Laps
Ret  Joel Eriksson Motopark  
Ret  Guan Yu Zhou Prema Powerteam  
Ret  Marino Sato Motopark  

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